The Ness of Brodgar is an archaeological site covering 2.5 hectares (6.2 acres) between the Ring of Brodgar and the Stones of Stenness in the Heart of Neolithic OrkneyWorld Heritage Site in Orkney, Scotland. Excavations at the site began in 2003. The site has provided evidence of decorated stone slabs, a stone wall 6 metres (20 ft) thick with foundations, and a large building described as a Neolithic temple.[1] The earliest structures were built between 3,300 and 3,200 BC, and the site had been closed down and partly dismantled by 2,200 BC.[2]

Today the Brodgar peninsula[3] is a finger of land a few hundred metres wide, situated between the saltwater Loch of Stenness to the southwest and the freshwater[4]Loch of Harray to the northeast.

To the southeast are the Standing Stones of Stenness and to the north-west is the Ring of Brodgar. A short bridge connects these two sites. Also visible from the site are, to the east, the chambered cairn at Maeshowe and, to the southeast the Barnhouse Settlement. A couple of kilometres northwest of the Ring of Brodgar is the Ring of Bookan, a third henge, with associated mounds.[5] The Neolithic village at Skara Brae lies a few kilometres away, as does the chambered cairn at Unstan. More archaeology is probably submerged beneath the lochs.[6]

In Neolithic times, the Loch of Stenness was probably a wetland area rather than a lake. People from Skara Brae would have been able to walk to the Ness of Brodgar, watch or take part in ritual activity and walk home within a day.[7]

The structures at the Ness of Brodgar are made of flagstone, a sedimentary rock found abundantly throughout Orkney.[8] Flagstone is easily split into flat stones and was therefore a good material for fine building work using Neolithic tools. Some of the stone found on site is too thin for floor tiles or wall building, and is understood as the first evidence ever found of roofs.[9]

The structures at Brodgar are numbered in the order of discovery. As more of the site was uncovered and the interpretations improved, some numbers went out of use, so as of 2016 the key structures are numbered 1, 8, 10, 12 and 14.

Structures 1, 8, 12 and 14 appear to have been constructed around 3,000 BC. These stand on top of earlier remains that, as of 2016, have not yet been uncovered, but are thought to date to 3,300–3,200 BCE.[2]

Structure 1 has a complex history and appears to have been built on top of the remains of an earlier structure.[10] The official guide to the dig suggests that this structure appears to have been central to the site. Originally it was more than 15 metres (49 ft) long, but was radically rebuilt within about a century of its first construction: two doors were blocked up, a new door was inserted and a new wall built. It was decorated with many pieces of stone artwork, some of which were internal to the walls and would never have been seen while the building was in use.[10]

Some of the individual stones of structure 1 were painted in yellows, reds, and oranges using ochre pigment made of haematite mixed with animal fat, milk or eggs.[11][12] This is the first discovery in Britain of evidence that Neolithic people used paint to decorate their buildings.

In 2015 the bones of a baby, which died around the time of birth, were unearthed in a recess of this building.[13]

In this image taken in July 2016, structure 8 is visible to the rear. The prominent structure is structure 11.

Structure 8 is roughly contemporary with structure 1, probably having been built just after structure 1 was completed.[14] It comprised ten piers and ten recesses, and had six hearths. The remains of at least two earlier buildings lie beneath it and structure 8 appears to have undergone severe subsidence itself. Its floor slumped in antiquity, causing the roof to fall in, and some of its stones were used to form structure 10.[14]

Structure 8 was the first place where stone roof tiles were discovered on site[15] and the first place where coloured pigment was found on the walls.[14]

Uniquely among the buildings of the Ness of Brodgar, and indeed uniquely in Neolithic Europe so far as we know, finely-worked stone spatulas were found here. They resemble flattened spoons and have been made with great care. None of them show signs of wear and their purpose is unknown.[14] Other finds from this structure included a whalebone mace head[16] and a whale's tooth set in stone.

This image taken in July 2016 shows archaeologists at work on structure 10.

Structure 10 was discovered in 2008, and was described by excavators as "temple-like". It has walls 4 metres (13 ft) thick and still standing to a height of more than 1 metre (3.3 ft). The building is 25 metres (82 ft) long and 20 metres (66 ft) wide and a standing stone with a hole shaped like an hourglass was incorporated into the walls. There is a cross-shaped inner sanctum and the building was surrounded by a paved outer passage. It is believed to have been constructed around 2,900 BCE, and appears to have been partly rebuilt around 2,800 BC, probably due to structural instability.[1] This is the largest structure of its kind anywhere in the north of Britain and it would have dominated the ritual landscape of the peninsula.

Structure 10 was used until around 2,400–2,200 BCE, when it appears to have been "closed" in an extraordinary and unique episode of ceremonial demolition[17] involving the slaughter of several hundred cattle. Bones of approximately 400 cattle-tibias (shin bones)[1] comprise the vast majority of bones found[18]. The bones were laid around structure 10 and an upturned cow skull was placed within it. The tibias appear to have been cracked to extract the marrow, suggesting that this slaughter was accompanied by a feast. All the slaughter seems to have taken place in a single event.[18]

After the feast, the whole carcasses of several red deer were placed atop the broken bones, and structure 10 was largely destroyed.[18] This event appears to have marked the closure and abandonment of the Ness of Brodgar site.

Structure 12 in July 2016. Just visible at the back of this photograph is celebrity archaeologist Neil Oliver.

Structure 12 was built around 3,000 BCE. It comprises six piers, four recesses and two hearths. It is the southernmost structure so far uncovered, but there are believed to be more structures farther south still underground (some of which, unfortunately, may be under the site's spoil heap). It was made of well-dressed stone but, like several other buildings on the site, appears to have suffered from structural problems and was partly rebuilt. An annexe to the north, added later in the Neolithic, is not well integrated into the original stonework.[19]

This annexe contained masses of grooved ware pottery, including some very large vessels, some made with techniques not otherwise known from the Neolithic, and some coloured black, red or white.[19] The red colour was made of ochre, and the black of soot; the source of the white colouring has not yet been determined.

The grooved ware from Orkney is the oldest known in Britain, and the style appears to originate from Orkney and radiate southwards.[20]

Structure 14 as it appeared in July 2016. The tarpaulins visible in this image are left over from when the site was covered and closed down (dig restarted 4 July). The tyres were used to weigh them down.

Structure 14 was built around 3,000 BCE, roughly contemporaneously with structures 1, 8 and 12. Like them it was built on top of earlier structures. It is the most northerly of the buildings so far uncovered. It has three entrances, four piers, four recesses, and two hearths. Apart from its size it is generally similar in design to structure 8.[14]

A great deal of stone from structure 14 was taken in antiquity for re-use elsewhere, and like all the other structures except structure 10, it appears to have been largely demolished by 2,600 BCE.[21]

The ends of this building appear to have been used for different purposes and, as of 2016, the floor is undergoing chemical analysis to determine what they were.[14]

An unusual axehead, made from gneiss,[22] and a carinated bowl from the early Neolithic which may predate grooved ware,[23] have been found in this structure.

Excavations have revealed several buildings, both ritual and domestic, and the works suggest there are likely to be more in the vicinity. Pottery, cremated animal bones, stone tools, and polished stone mace heads have also been discovered.[24][25] Some of the stone slabs are decorated with geometrical lozenges typical of other Neolithic sites.[26]

There are the remains of a large stone wall (the "Great Wall of Brodgar") that may have been 100 metres (330 ft) long and 6 metres (20 ft) or more wide. It appears to traverse the entire peninsula where the site is located, and may have been a symbolic barrier between the ritual landscape of the Ring and the mundane world around it.[26][27]

A baked clay artefact known as the "Brodgar Boy", and thought to be a figurine with a head, body, and two eyes, was also unearthed in the rubble of one structure in 2011. It was found in two sections, the smaller of which measures 30 mm, but is thought to be part of a still larger object.[28]

In 2013, an intricately inscribed stone was found in structure 10, described as "potentially the finest example of Neolithic art found in the UK for several decades".[29] The stone is inscribed on both sides. A few days later archaeologists discovered a carved stone ball, a very rare find of such an object in situ in "a modern archaeological context".[30]

The Heart of Neolithic Orkney was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999. In addition to the Ring of Brodgar, the site includes Maeshowe, Skara Brae, the Stones of Stenness, and other nearby sites. It is managed by Historic Scotland, whose "Statement of Significance" for the site begins:

The monuments at the heart of Neolithic Orkney and Skara Brae proclaim the triumphs of the human spirit in early ages and isolated places. They were approximately contemporary with the mastabas of the archaic period of Egypt (first and second dynasties), the brick temples of Sumeria, and the first cities of the Harappa culture in India, and a century or two earlier than the Golden Age of China. Unusually fine for their early date, and with a remarkably rich survival of evidence, these sites stand as a visible symbol of the achievements of early peoples away from the traditional centres of civilisation. ... Stenness is a unique and early expression of the ritual customs of the people who buried their dead in tombs like Maes Howe and lived in settlements like Skara Brae.[36]

Since the importance of the Ness was discovered only in 2003, it was not mentioned explicitly in 1999 and was not one of the four key sites. Nevertheless, the Ness of Brodgar "contribute[s] greatly to our understanding of the WHS" according to Historic Scotland.[37]

^A flaked stone with a sharp edge used for cutting. This neolithic tool is named after Skaill Bay, the location of World Heritage Site Skara Brae in Orkney. See "Skaill knife"(PDF). Historic Scotland. Retrieved 21 March 2007.

1.
Mainland, Orkney
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The Mainland is the main island of Orkney, Scotland. Both of Orkneys burghs, Kirkwall and Stromness, lie on the island, seventy-five per cent of Orkneys population live on the island, which is more densely populated than the other islands of the archipelago. The lengthy history of the occupation has provided numerous important archaeological sites. There is an abundance of wildlife, especially seabirds, the name Mainland is a corruption of the Old Norse Meginland. Formerly the island was known as Hrossey meaning Horse Island. The island is densely populated and has much fertile farmland. The bulk of the Mainland is west of Kirkwall and is low-lying, with coastal cliffs to the north and west, the eastern part of the Mainland is shaped like the letter W, the easternmost peninsula being known as Deerness. To the south, causeways called Churchill Barriers connect the island to Burray and South Ronaldsay via Lamb Holm, Mainland effectively provides the core of the Orkney Islands, linking the northern members of the archipelago with the southern ones. At the east, and west ends, islands proceed to the north and south, the western part of the island is part of the Hoy and West Mainland National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. The population in 2011 was recorded as 17,162, an increase of just over 12% on the 2001 population of 15,315, there are 13 parishes on the island. Sandwick, Birsay and Stromness lie on the west coast, Rendall, Holm, Deerness and St Andrews are located to the east of central St Ola, which contains Kirkwall town. Firth, Orphir, Stenness and Harray lie west of Kirkwall, Harray has the unique distinction of being the only landlocked parish in Orkney, although it too has a significant coast along the Loch of Harray, albeit a freshwater one. The three main settlements on Mainland, in order of magnitude are Kirkwall and Stromness, both of which are burghs, and Finstown, Kirkwall has the seat of the Bishop of Orkney, and St. Magnus Cathedral is to be found there. It is also one of the ferry ports. Stromness A long-established seaport that grew with the expansion of whaling, the old town is clustered along the main street, flanked with houses and shops built from local stone, with narrow lanes and alleys branching off it. There is a link to Scrabster in Caithness on the Scottish mainland as well as the Isle of Hoy. Finstown Finstown is the third largest settlement, and used to be known as the Toon o Firth, the origin of its name is thought to be from an Irishman named David Phin who came to the area in 1811. It is on the direct Stromness to Kirkwall road, in common with most of the Orkney isles, Mainland rests almost entirely on a bedrock of Old Red Sandstone, which is about 400 million years old and was laid down in the Devonian period

2.
Neolithic
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It ended when metal tools became widespread. The Neolithic is a progression of behavioral and cultural characteristics and changes, including the use of wild and domestic crops, the beginning of the Neolithic culture is considered to be in the Levant about 10, 200–8800 BC. It developed directly from the Epipaleolithic Natufian culture in the region, whose people pioneered the use of wild cereals, which then evolved into true farming. The Natufian period was between 12,000 and 10,200 BC, and the so-called proto-Neolithic is now included in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic between 10,200 and 8800 BC. By 10, 200–8800 BC, farming communities arose in the Levant and spread to Asia Minor, North Africa, Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. Early Neolithic farming was limited to a range of plants, both wild and domesticated, which included einkorn wheat, millet and spelt, and the keeping of dogs, sheep. By about 6900–6400 BC, it included domesticated cattle and pigs, the establishment of permanently or seasonally inhabited settlements, not all of these cultural elements characteristic of the Neolithic appeared everywhere in the same order, the earliest farming societies in the Near East did not use pottery. Early Japanese societies and other East Asian cultures used pottery before developing agriculture, unlike the Paleolithic, when more than one human species existed, only one human species reached the Neolithic. The term Neolithic derives from the Greek νέος néos, new and λίθος líthos, stone, the term was invented by Sir John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. In the Middle East, cultures identified as Neolithic began appearing in the 10th millennium BC, early development occurred in the Levant and from there spread eastwards and westwards. Neolithic cultures are attested in southeastern Anatolia and northern Mesopotamia by around 8000 BC. The total excavated area is more than 1,200 square yards, the Neolithic 1 period began roughly 10,000 years ago in the Levant. A temple area in southeastern Turkey at Göbekli Tepe dated around 9500 BC may be regarded as the beginning of the period. This site was developed by nomadic tribes, evidenced by the lack of permanent housing in the vicinity. At least seven stone circles, covering 25 acres, contain limestone pillars carved with animals, insects, Stone tools were used by perhaps as many as hundreds of people to create the pillars, which might have supported roofs. Other early PPNA sites dating to around 9500–9000 BC have been found in Jericho, Israel, Gilgal in the Jordan Valley, the start of Neolithic 1 overlaps the Tahunian and Heavy Neolithic periods to some degree. The major advance of Neolithic 1 was true farming, in the proto-Neolithic Natufian cultures, wild cereals were harvested, and perhaps early seed selection and re-seeding occurred. The grain was ground into flour, emmer wheat was domesticated, and animals were herded and domesticated

3.
Ring of Brodgar
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The Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle about 6 miles north-east of Stromness on the Mainland, the largest island in Orkney, Scotland. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the Heart of Neolithic Orkney, the Ring of Brodgar is a Neolithic henge and stone circle in Orkney, Scotland. Most henges do not contain stone circles, Brodgar is a striking exception, the ring of stones stands on a small isthmus between the Lochs of Stenness and Harray. These are the northernmost examples of circle henges in Britain, the site has resisted attempts at scientific dating and the monuments age remains uncertain. It is generally thought to have been erected between 2500 BC and 2000 BC, and was, therefore, the last of the great Neolithic monuments built on the Ness, the results of the excavation are still preliminary. The stone circle is 104 metres in diameter, and the third largest in the British Isles, the ring originally comprised up to 60 stones, of which only 27 remained standing at the end of the 20th century. The tallest stones stand at the south and west of the ring, including the so-called Comet Stone to the south-east. The stones are set within a ditch up to 3 metres deep,9 metres wide and 380 metres in circumference that was carved out of the solid sandstone bedrock by the ancient residents. Technically, this ditch does not constitute a true henge as there is no sign of a bank of earth. The ditch appears to have created in sections, possibly by workforces from different parts of Orkney. The stones may have been an addition, maybe erected over a long period of time. Examination of the immediate environs reveals a concentration of ancient sites, within 2 square miles there are the two circle-henges, four chambered tombs, groups of standing stones, single stones, barrows, cairns, and mounds. The immediate area has yielded a number of flint arrowheads. Although its exact purpose is not known, the proximity of the Standing Stones of Stenness, the site is a scheduled ancient monument and has been recognized as part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site in 1999. The Heart of Neolithic Orkney was inscribed as a World Heritage site in December 1999, in addition to the Ring of Brodgar, the site includes Maeshowe, Skara Brae, the Standing Stones of Stenness and other nearby sites. W. L. Ongoing excavations by Orkney College at the nearby Ness of Brodgar site located roughly midway between the Ring and the Stones of Stenness have uncovered several buildings, both ritual and domestic, geophysics suggest there are likely to be more in the vicinity. Pottery, bones, stone tools and a polished stone mace head have also been discovered, perhaps the most important find is the remains of a large stone wall which may have been 100 metres long and up to 6 metres wide. It appears to traverse the entire peninsula the site is on, invaders from Scandinavia reached Orkney by the 9th century, bringing a complex theology that they imposed on the preexisting Orcadian monuments, at least according to local legend

4.
Standing Stones of Stenness
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The Standing Stones of Stenness is a Neolithic monument five miles northeast of Stromness on the mainland of Orkney, Scotland. This may be the oldest henge site in the British Isles, various traditions associated with the stones survived into the modern era and they form part of the Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site. They are looked after by Historic Scotland, the surviving stones are sited on a promontory at the south bank of the stream that joins the southern ends of the sea loch Loch of Stenness and the freshwater Loch of Harray. The name, which is pronounced stane-is in Orcadian dialect, comes from Old Norse meaning stone headland, although the site today lacks the encircling ditch and bank, excavation has shown that this used to be a henge monument, possibly the oldest in the British Isles. The stones are thin slabs, approximately 300 mm thick with sharply angled tops. Four, up to about 5 m high, were elements of a stone circle of up to 12 stones. The ditch is cut into rock by as much as 2 m and is 7 m wide, surrounded by an earth bank, the entrance faces towards the Neolithic Barnhouse Settlement which has been found adjacent to the Loch of Harray. The Watch Stone stands outside the circle to the north-west and is 5.6 m high, once there were at least two stones there, as in the 1930s the stump of a second stone was found. Other smaller stones include a stone setting in the centre of the circle platform where cremated bone, charcoal. This is referred to as a hearth, similar to the one found at Barnhouse, animal bones were found in the ditch. The pottery links the monument to Skara Brae and Maeshowe, based on radiocarbon dating, it is thought that work on the site had begun by 3100 BC. Even in the 18th century the site was associated with traditions and rituals. It was visited by Walter Scott in 1814, other antiquarians documented the stones and recorded local traditions and beliefs about them. It was also associated with ceremonies and believed to have magical power. There was a tradition of making all kinds of oaths or promises with ones hand in the Odin Stone. He started in December 1814 by smashing the Odin Stone and this caused outrage and he was stopped after destroying one other stone and toppling another. The toppled stone was re-erected in 1906 along with some inaccurate reconstruction inside the circle, in the 1970s, a dolmen structure was toppled, since there were doubts as to its authenticity. The two upright stones remain in place, a picture of the Stones of Stenness features on the cover of Van Morrisons album The Philosophers Stone, and the Odin stone is depicted on Julian Copes album Discover Odin

5.
Ochre
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Ochre (/ˈoʊkər/ OH-kər, from Greek, ὠχρός, ōkhrós, or ocher, is a natural earth pigment containing hydrated iron oxide, which ranges in color from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the produced by this pigment. A variant of ochre containing an amount of hematite, or dehydrated iron oxide, has a reddish tint known as red ochre. Ochre is a family of pigments, which includes yellow ochre, red ochre, purple ochre, sienna. The major ingredient of all the ochres is iron oxide-hydroxide, known as limonite, which gives them a yellow color. Yellow ochre, FeO·nH 2O, is a hydrated iron hydroxide also called gold ochre Red ochre, Fe 2O3, takes its color from the mineral hematite. Purple ochre, is identical to red ochre chemically but of a different hue caused by different light diffraction properties associated with an average particle size. Brown ochre, also FeO, is a hydrated iron oxide. Sienna contains both limonite and an amount of manganese oxide, which makes it darker than ochre. Umber pigments contain a proportion of manganese which make them a dark brown. When natural sienna and umber pigments are heated, they are dehydrated and some of the limonite is transformed into hematite, giving them more reddish colors, called burnt sienna and burnt umber. Ochres are non-toxic, and can be used to make an oil paint that dries quickly, modern ochre pigments often are made using synthetic iron oxide. Pigments which use natural ochre pigments indicate it with the name PY-43 on the label, pieces of ochre engraved with abstract designs have been found at the site of the Blombos Cave in South Africa, dated to around 75,000 years ago. In Wales, the paleolithic burial called the Red Lady of Paviland from its coating of red ochre has been dated to around 33,000 years before present. Paintings of animals made with red and yellow ochre pigments have been found in sites at Pech Merle in France. The cave of Lascaux has an image of a horse colored with yellow estimated to be 17,300 years old. In Ancient Egypt, yellow was associated with gold, which was considered to be eternal, the skin and bones of the gods were believed to be made of gold. The Egyptians used yellow extensively in tomb painting, though occasionally they used orpiment

6.
Hematite
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Hematite, also spelled as haematite, is the mineral form of iron oxide, one of several iron oxides. Hematite crystallizes in the lattice system, and it has the same crystal structure as ilmenite. Hematite and ilmenite form a solid solution at temperatures above 950 °C. Hematite is colored black to steel or silver-gray, brown to reddish brown and it is mined as the main ore of iron. Varieties include kidney ore, martite, iron rose and specularite, while the forms of hematite vary, they all have a rust-red streak. Hematite is harder than iron, but much more brittle. Maghemite is a hematite- and magnetite-related oxide mineral, huge deposits of hematite are found in banded iron formations. Gray hematite is typically found in places that can have still standing water or mineral hot springs, the mineral can precipitate out of water and collect in layers at the bottom of a lake, spring, or other standing water. Hematite can also occur without water, however, usually as the result of volcanic activity, the name hematite is derived from the Greek word for blood αἷμα haima, due to the red coloration found in some varities of hematite. The color of hematite lends itself to use as a pigment, ochre is a clay that is colored by varying amounts of hematite, varying between 20% and 70%. Red ochre contains unhydrated hematite, whereas yellow ochre contains hydrated hematite, the principal use of ochre is for tinting with a permanent color. The red chalk writing of this mineral was one of the earliest in the history of humans, the powdery mineral was first used 164,000 years ago by the Pinnacle-Point man possibly for social purposes. Hematite residues are found in graves from 80,000 years ago. Near Rydno in Poland and Lovas in Hungary red chalk mines have been found that are from 5000 BC, rich deposits of hematite have been found on the island of Elba that have been mined since the time of the Etruscans. Adding to the surprise was a transition with a decrease in temperature at around 260 K to a phase with no net magnetic moment. The disappearance of the moment with a decrease in temperature at 260 K is caused by a change in the anisotropy which causes the moments to align along the c axis, in this configuration, spin canting does not reduce the energy. The magnetic properties of bulk hematite differ from their nanoscale counterparts, for example, the Morin transition temperature of hematite decreases with a decrease in the particle size. Two other end-members are referred to as protohematite and hydrohematite, enhanced magnetic coercivities for hematite have been achieved by dry-heating a 2-line ferrihydrite precursor prepared from solution

7.
Hourglass
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An hourglass is a device used to measure the passage of time. It comprises two glass bulbs connected vertically by a neck that allows a regulated trickle of material from the upper bulb to the lower one. Factors affecting the time interval measured include sand quantity, sand coarseness, bulb size, hourglasses may be reused indefinitely by inverting the bulbs once the upper bulb is empty. The origin of the hourglass is unclear and its predecessor the clepsydra, or water clock, may have been invented in ancient India. According to the American Institute of New York, the clepsammia or sand-glass was invented at Alexandria about 150 BC. But it was not until the 14th century that the hourglass was seen commonly, use of the marine sandglass has been recorded since the 14th century. The written records about it were mostly from logbooks of European ships, in the same period it appears in other records and lists of ships stores. The earliest recorded reference that can be said with certainty to refer to a marine sandglass dates from c, item, For four horologes of the same sort, bought there, price of each five gross, making in sterling 3s. Marine sandglasses were very popular on board ships, as they were the most dependable measurement of time while at sea, unlike the clepsydra, the motion of the ship while sailing did not affect the hourglass. The fact that the hourglass also used granular materials instead of liquids gave it more accurate measurements, seamen found that the hourglass was able to help them determine longitude, distance east or west from a certain point, with reasonable accuracy. The hourglass also found popularity on land, as the use of mechanical clocks to indicate the times of events like church services became more common, creating a need to keep track of time, the demand for time-measuring devices increased. Hourglasses were commonly seen in use in churches, homes, and work places to measure sermons, cooking time, because they were being used for more everyday tasks, the model of the hourglass began to shrink. The smaller models were more practical and very popular as they made timing more discreet, after 1500, the hourglass was not as widespread as it had been. This was due to the development of the clock, which became more accurate, smaller and cheaper. The hourglass, however, did not disappear entirely, although they became relatively less useful as clock technology advanced, hourglasses remained desirable in their design. The oldest known surviving hourglass resides in the British Museum in London, not until the 18th century did John Harrison and his son James, come up with a marine chronometer that significantly improved on the stability of the hourglass at sea. Little written evidence exists to explain why its external form is the shape that it is, the glass bulbs used, however, have changed in style and design over time. While the main designs have always been ampoule in shape, the bulbs were not always connected, the first hourglasses were two separate bulbs with a cord wrapped at their union that was then coated in wax to hold the piece together and let sand flow in between

8.
Gneiss
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Gneiss is a common distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks. The foliations are characterized by alternating darker and lighter colored bands, the word gneiss comes from the Middle High German verb gneist. It has occurred in English since at least 1757, gneissic rocks are usually medium- to coarse-foliated, they are largely recrystallized but do not carry large quantities of micas, chlorite or other platy minerals. Gneisses that are metamorphosed igneous rocks or their equivalent are termed granite gneisses, diorite gneisses, gneiss rocks may also be named after a characteristic component such as garnet gneiss, biotite gneiss, albite gneiss, etc. Orthogneiss designates a gneiss derived from a rock, and paragneiss is one from a sedimentary rock. Gneissose rocks have properties similar to gneiss, gneiss appears to be striped in bands, called gneissic banding. The banding is developed under high temperature and pressure conditions, the minerals are arranged into layers that appear as bands in cross section. The appearance of layers, called compositional banding, occurs because the layers, the darker bands have relatively more mafic minerals. The lighter bands contain relatively more felsic and these forces stretch out the rock like a plastic, and the original material is spread out into sheets. Another cause of banding is metamorphic differentiation, which separates different materials into different layers through chemical reactions, not all gneiss rocks have detectable banding. In kyanite gneiss, crystals of kyanite appear as random clumps in what is mainly a plagioclase matrix, henderson gneiss is found in North Carolina and South Carolina, US, east of the Brevard Shear Zone. It has deformed into two sequential forms, the second, more warped, form is associated with the Brevard Fault, and the first deformation results from displacement to the southwest. Most of the Outer Hebrides of Scotland have a formed from Lewisian gneiss. In addition to the Outer Hebrides, they form basement deposits on the Scottish mainland west of the Moine Thrust and on the islands of Coll and Tiree. These rocks are igneous in origin, mixed with metamorphosed marble, quartzite and mica schist with later intrusions of basaltic dikes. Gneisses of Archean and Proterozoic age occur in the Baltic Shield, in antiquity, gneisses were also utilized in architectural construction. They were used to erect the Sphinx of Taharqo in the Nile Valley, list of rock types Blatt, Harvey and Robert J. Tracy. Petrology, Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic, 2nd ed. Freeman, mcKirdy, Alan, Roger Crofts and John Gordon

9.
Silbury Hill
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Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. It is part of the Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites UNESCO World Heritage Site, and lies at grid reference SU099685. At 39.3 metres high, it is the tallest prehistoric man-made mound in Europe and one of the largest in the world, Silbury Hill is part of the complex of Neolithic monuments around Avebury, which includes the Avebury Ring and West Kennet Long Barrow. Its original purpose is still debated, composed mainly of chalk and clay excavated from the surrounding area, the mound stands 40 metres high and covers about 5 acres. The hill was constructed in stages between c. 2400–2300 BC and displays immense technical skill and prolonged control over labour and resources. Archaeologists calculate that it took 18 million man-hours, equivalent to 500 men working for 15 years to deposit and shape 248,000 cubic metres of earth, the base of the hill is circular and 167 metres in diameter. The summit is flat-topped and 30 metres in diameter, a smaller mound was constructed first, and in a later phase much enlarged. There are indications that the top originally had a rounded profile, the first clear evidence of construction, dated to around 2400 BC consisted of a gravel core with a revetting kerb of stakes and sarsen boulders. There have been excavations of the mound. The site was first illustrated by the seventeenth-century antiquarian John Aubrey, whose notes, later, William Stukeley wrote that a skeleton and bridle had been discovered during tree planting on the summit in 1723. It is probable that this was a later, secondary burial, the excavation came in October 1776 when a team of Cornish miners overseen by the Duke of Northumberland and Colonel Edward Drax sank a vertical shaft from the top. In 1849 a tunnel was dug horizontally from the edge into the centre, other excavations were undertaken in 1867 and 1886. Flinders Petrie investigated the hill after the First World War, in 1968 to 1970 professor Richard J. C. Atkinson undertook work at Silbury which was broadcast on BBC Television. This excavation revealed most of the evidence known about the site. He argued that the hill was constructed in steps, each tier being filled in with packed chalk, Atkinson reported the C14 date for the base layer of turf and decayed material indicated a corrected date for the commencement of Silbury was close to 2750 BC. After heavy rains in May 2002, a collapse of the 1776 excavation shaft caused a hole to form in the top of the hill, English Heritage undertook a seismic survey of the hill to identify the damage caused by earlier excavations and determine the hills stability. Repairs were undertaken but the site remained closed to the public, as part of this remedial work English Heritage excavated two further small trenches and made the important discovery of an antler fragment, the first from a secure archaeological context at the site. This produced a radiocarbon date of c

10.
Stonehenge
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Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England,2 miles west of Amesbury and 8 miles north of Salisbury. Stonehenge consists of ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 4.1 metres high,2.1 metres wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC, although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC, one of the most famous landmarks in the UK, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. It has been a legally protected Scheduled Ancient Monument since 1882 when legislation to protect historic monuments was first successfully introduced in Britain, the site and its surroundings were added to UNESCOs list of World Heritage Sites in 1986. Stonehenge is owned by the Crown and managed by English Heritage, Stonehenge could have been a burial ground from its earliest beginnings. Deposits containing human bone date from as early as 3000 BC, when the ditch and bank were first dug, William Stukeley in 1740 notes, Pendulous rocks are now called henges in Yorkshire. I doubt not, Stonehenge in Saxon signifies the hanging stones. Like Stonehenges trilithons, medieval gallows consisted of two uprights with a lintel joining them, rather than the inverted L-shape more familiar today, the henge portion has given its name to a class of monuments known as henges. Archaeologists define henges as earthworks consisting of a banked enclosure with an internal ditch. As often happens in archaeological terminology, this is a holdover from antiquarian use, Stonehenge evolved in several construction phases spanning at least 1500 years. There is evidence of construction on and around the monument that perhaps extends the landscapes time frame to 6500 years. The modern phasing most generally agreed to by archaeologists is detailed below, features mentioned in the text are numbered and shown on the plan, right. Archaeologists have found four, or possibly five, large Mesolithic postholes and these held pine posts around 0.75 metres in diameter, which were erected and eventually rotted in situ. Three of the posts were in an east-west alignment which may have had significance, no parallels are known from Britain at the time. A settlement that may have been contemporaneous with the posts has been found at Blick Mead, a reliable year round spring 1 mile from Stonehenge. Salisbury Plain was then still wooded but 4,000 years later, during the earlier Neolithic, people built an enclosure at Robin Hoods Ball. In approximately 3500 BC, a Stonehenge Cursus was built 700 metres north of the site as the first farmers began to clear the trees, a number of other adjacent stone and wooden structures and burial mounds, previously overlooked, may date as far back as 4000 BC

11.
Avebury
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Avebury is a Neolithic henge monument containing three stone circles, around the village of Avebury in Wiltshire, in southwest England. One of the best known sites in Britain, it contains the largest stone circle in Europe. It is both a tourist attraction and a place of importance to contemporary pagans. Its original purpose is unknown, although archaeologists believe that it was most likely used for some form of ritual or ceremony, the Avebury monument is a part of a larger prehistoric landscape containing several older monuments nearby, including West Kennet Long Barrow and Silbury Hill. By the Iron Age, the site had effectively abandoned. During the Early Middle Ages, a village first began to be built around the monument, in the Late Medieval and Early Modern periods, local people destroyed many of the standing stones around the henge, both for religious and practical reasons. The antiquarians John Aubrey and William Stukeley, however, took an interest in Avebury during the 17th century, archaeological investigation followed in the 20th century, led primarily by Alexander Keiller, who oversaw a project which reconstructed much of the monument. Avebury is owned and managed by the National Trust, at grid reference SU10266996, Avebury is respectively about 6 and 7 miles from the modern towns of Marlborough and Calne. Avebury lies in an area of chalkland in the Upper Kennet Valley which forms the catchment for the River Kennet and supports local springs and seasonal watercourses. The monument stands slightly above the landscape, sitting on a low chalk ridge 160 m above sea level, to the east are the Marlborough Downs. It is now listed as part of the Stonehenge, Avebury, the monuments are preserved as part of a Neolithic and Bronze Age landscape for the information they provide regarding prehistoric peoples relationship with the landscape. Radiocarbon dating and analysis of pollen in buried soils have shown that the environment of lowland Britain changed around 4250–4000 BCE. The change to an environment from damp, heavy soils and expanses of dense forest was mostly brought about by farmers, probably through the use of slash. Environmental factors may also have made a contribution, different species of snail live in specific habitats, so the presence of a certain species indicates what the area was like at a particular point in time. The history of the site before the construction of the henge is uncertain, evidence of activity in the region before the 4th millennium BCE is limited, suggesting that there was little human occupation. During this era, those living in Britain were hunter-gatherers, often moving around the landscape in small familial or tribal groups in search of food. The archaeologists Mark Gillings and Joshua Pollard suggested the possibility that Avebury first gained some sort of significance during the Late Mesolithic period. As evidence, they highlighted the existence of a posthole near to the southern entrance that would have once supported a large wooden post

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of a ring of …

Stonehenge in 2007

Plan of Stonehenge in 2004. After Cleal et al. and Pitts. Italicised numbers in the text refer to the labels on this plan. Trilithon lintels omitted for clarity. Holes that no longer, or never, contained stones are shown as open circles. Stones visible today are shown coloured

Stonehenge 1. After Cleal et al.

Graffiti on the sarsen stones include ancient carvings of a dagger and an axe

Skara Brae is a stone-built Neolithic settlement, located on the Bay of Skaill on the west coast of Mainland, the …

Skara Brae, looking north

Excavated dwellings at Skara Brae

View over the settlement, showing covering to house No. 7 and proximity to modern shore line. The glass roof has now been replaced by a turf one, as the humidity and heat caused by the glass roof was hindering preservation.